UFC REQUIRED TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO
UFC FIGHT NIGHT: MACHIDA VS. ROMERO EVENT
Visa system issue forces changes to several bouts on the June 27 fight card
Las Vegas – Due to an issue affecting the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs visa system and a technical problem with the Consular Consolidated Database, UFC® is unable to secure entry into the country for 12 of its athletes slated to compete at UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: MACHIDA vs. ROMERO on Saturday, June 27, at the Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. After reviewing every available option, UFC has committed to moving forward with the fight card in Florida, adding several new bouts to round out the nine-fight card.
The previously announced main event, featuring former UFC light heavyweight champion and current fourth-ranked middleweight contender Lyoto Machida versus No. 6 Yoel Romero, will remain atop the fight card in Florida, broadcast on FOX Sports 1. The new co-main event will feature Lorenz Larkin (15-4, 1 NC; Riverside, Calif.) taking on Santiago Ponzinibbio (19-2; La Plata, Argentina) in a welterweight contest.
The bantamweight and lightweight finals of The Ultimate Fighter® Brazil will now be featured at UFC 190: ROUSEY vs. CORREIA on Saturday, August 1 in Rio de Janeiro. The original co-main event for the Hollywood, Fla. card, Erick Silva vs. Rick Story, will no longer take place on June 27. UFC officials are discussing options for those fighters at this time.
Additionally, the bantamweight fight between Rani Yahya and Masanori Kanehara, originally slated for Hollywood, Fla., will now take place on July 15 in San Diego.
Bouts scheduled for UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: MACHIDA vs. ROMERO:
- A middleweight bout that features TUF Brazil 3 champion Antonio Carlos Junior (5-1; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) versus fellow TUF winner Eddie “Truck” Gordon (8-3; Uniondale, N.Y.)
- Middleweight Steve Bosse (10-1; St-Jean Sur Richelieu, Quebec, Canada) vs. Thiago Santos (10-3; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
- Featherweights Hacran Dias (22-3-1; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) vs. Levan Makashvili (10-1; Oceanside, NY)
- Hard-hitting welterweight Alex Oliveira (11-2-1, 1 NC; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), who most recently defeated KJ Noons, vs. UFC newcomer Joe Merritt (6-0; Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.).
- Welterweights Leandro “Buscape” Silva (17-2-1, 1 NC; Sao Paulo, Brazil) vs. Lewis Gonzalez (10-1; Turlock, Calif.), also making his UFC debut
- A battle between hungry UFC newcomers and welterweights Steve Montgomery (8-2; Boca Raton, Fla.) vs. Tony Sims (11-2; Denver, Colo.)
- *An additional fight will be added in the days to come
Fans seeking ticket refunds for the Hollywood, Fla. card can do so at the point of sale.
For the latest information on additional bouts for this event, please visit www.ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.
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About UFC®
UFC® is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization and largest Pay-Per-View event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Singapore and Sao Paulo, UFC produces more than 40 live events annually that consistently sell out some of the most prestigious arenas around the globe. UFC programming is broadcast in 158 countries and territories to over 1 billion TV households worldwide in 21 different languages. The UFC has a multi-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the U.S., which annually includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network, as well as The Ultimate Fighter® reality television show and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. In 2014, UFC launched UFC FIGHT PASS®, a digital subscription service that is available throughout the world with exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content. The UFC organization also licenses over 100 UFC GYM® locations, and owns UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT® (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC Magazine, and has a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, UFC branded apparel, DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.
